New Music Report – September 11, 2020
This past week was actually a pretty light one for music, as it turns out. Which is a weird feeling, cause fall is usually the busiest time of year for new releases. Back when I first started this several years ago, I would only do these posts when I felt there was enough to talk about, and around this time of year, I had like 5 or 6 albums every week to talk about. They’re still coming out, the schedule has just been a bit jumbled, but it’ll be interesting to see what effect this has in the long run.
Ihsahn – Ihsahn, likely better known as the vocalist and guitarist from the incredibly influential Norwegian black metal band, Emperor, is an absolute genius. He’s one of those musicians that you just can’t help but envy because he’s just so good at everything he does. He’s an almost untouchable songwriter, producer, and musician, and making it all seem so effortless. In that regard, he reminds me a lot of Steve Wilson, he’s almost unfathomably good, it feels like he’s working with some sort of cheat code that the rest of us didn’t get. And actually, in that regard, this album sounds a lot like the sort of thing that Steve Wilson would put together; in a lot of places it sounds very similar to Porcupine Tree or something like that. Very prog-influenced, a heavy foundation, and some strong, clean vocals over it. It’s a very cool execution, but at times I will say it gets a little boring. This may sound weird, but sometimes it’s possible to be TOO good at something, and when you do everything at a virtuoso level, you lose a bit of humanity and magic from your music. By all accounts, Geoff Rickley from Thursday is a god awful vocalist, but he’s forever going to be one of my favorites. It’s the idea that, while he isn’t perfect, his vocals are filled with an immense amount of emotion and passion, and it makes you feel something. When you have a song that’s little more than a technical showcase, you lose a bit of the emotion that, at least I, personally, believe is the reason that we all love music so much anyway. It’s supposed to make you feel something. And amazement is a feeling, I suppose, but it’s not always the one I’m looking for.
Mastodon – Just to be perfectly clear, this isn’t actually a new album. It’s a compilation of b-sides, live songs, instrumental versions, and a couple unreleased songs. But honestly, it’s always worth talking about Mastodon. There are a lot of cool little features on here, like the songs that they did for Game of Thrones and Aqua Teen Hunger Force, and a lot of very good quality live tracks, and for a band that’s as impressive live as Mastodon is, I think they’re absolutely worth checking out. There is also a very eclectic selection of covers like a Flaming Lips cover, a Feist cover, and a Metallica cover. The real gem here is the new unreleased song “Fallen Torches” which was released as a single preceding this album a few weeks ago, and it’s just fantastic. Honestly, there isn’t much else to say about this album, but if you’re a fan of Mastodon, I’d say it’s worth digging in to.